In U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,244 a flooring system is described comprising tiles provided along all the side edges with receiving openings, each adapted to receive and maintain a separate connector member, whereby it is possible to connect adjacently positioned identical tiles in a secure manner.
The separate connector members are formed with two head parts connected with a beam part, hence it is possible to fit a first head part into a receiving opening of a first tile, and then fit the second head part into a receiving opening of a second tile, thereby connecting the two tiles in a secure manner.
It is a disadvantage to have separate connector members for the connection of the adjacent tiles, because either a number of separate connector members must be pre-mounted to one tile, or the separate connector members must be mounted during the layout of the tiles in order to form a tread surface. Either method is very time consuming to perform before the layout.
Furthermore, there will be a risk of loosing the separate connector members before the layout of tiles, or the separate connector members will fall out of engagement with the receiving openings due to their downwardly directed openings when the tile is positioned.
From a production point of view it is a rather costly procedure in that one machine is used for producing the tiles and another machine is necessary for producing the connector members, and either a robot or manual labour is necessary in order to place the connectors in the appropriate receiving openings in the side edges of the floor tiles.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,306 another surface system is known. In this system, the separate elements are moulded with combined dovetails and corresponding receiving recesses, such that the dovetails are moulded in the recesses. The dovetails extend out from the side of the surface elements such that by maintaining the dovetails in one element and removing it in an adjacent element, and thereby freeing up the recess, it becomes possible to insert the dovetail of one element in the recess of the adjacent element and thereby connect the two adjacent elements. When, however, a dovetail becomes damaged it cannot be replaced, and the entire element needs to be replaced by another new complete element.